Dunning Subaru

Reviews 3

DO

Douglas D

I wanted to describe my experience with Dunning Subaru hoping that others will shop around and not settle for what Dunning Subaru has to offer. I started my experience with the website on a weekend after hours, there was an icon to click to be able to text someone (Elena?) for info. I saw a car I was interested in, sent a text asking a for the "E price" of a particular vehicle. I got a quick response saying she didnt know and would get back to me on Monday. I am not sure why the have the text option if they cannot answer basic question about a vehicle, price, availability, etc. Monday comes and I hear nothing so at 3 in the afternoon I get on the site and try to do the online chat, nobody was available so I left an online message asking for info again. I get a response but still not getting my questions answered such as if they price match etc. I decide to come into the dealership the following day after work, I let the Elena know I am coming, she asks what time, I state 4:45, she lists 3 people that will be looking for me. I show up to Dunning at 4:45, I see a gentleman in the lot looking lost & confused(Adam), I ask if he works there and he says yes. I proceed to tell him the vehicle I am interested in, he pulls it around, I said I have driven one already I am here to see if we can work something out on the vehicle as I know what I want I am just looking for the best deal. We go inside, I show him the best price of my local dealer and ask if they can match and if they will appraise my trade. He says they will match the price and then gives me the value of my trade which is a complete insult as I have been to 2 other dealers shopping for the same vehicle. I tell him what my local dealer will pay for my trade and if they can make me a better deal overall. Adam proceeds to do the old back and forth with the sales manager Pete Van Buren as I am left waiting and waiting. I can hear Pete talking to Adam from his office and he is not happy with my requests. After the back and forth finally Pete comes out gives me my key and says this is the bottom line take it or not. I leave, it was ridiculous. The next day I get the standard email survey from Pete and I answer it and interject my feelings on how he operates and their business practices, as expected no response. So as an informed consumer who shops around, does their research and is not one of the sheep that goes into a dealership and just accepts what they want you to pay etc. I am letting you know there are many options available other than Dunning Subaru of Ann Arbor. Grand Blanc Subaru & Thelen Subaru in Bay City are both awesome to deal with and are customer service not profit driven like Dunning. Another point, they state on their site if you work for the U of M you will get special pricing etc, well I work for the U of M, told them so and I got extremely poor customer service, rudeness and borderline hostility. Good luck to all in your quest for a new Subaru. :) ***UPDATE- I went back with my gf about a month ago because she is interested in a 2016 Outback, so we went to look and test drive one. We arrived and requested a salesman come help us, after a few minutes a young guy came out to help us(I forget his name) Long story short, we took an Outback for a test ride and also had them appraise my gfs Honda for a trade in. The salesguy was polite, knowledgeable about the product and was friendly too, imagine that. Everything went completely different than when I was there, they gave us a price with the U of M discount too. The numbers were ok, but we were just looking so we did no negotiations but plan on going back after my gf sells her car to a family member in the next month or so. So will update after that experience. Side note, I got my 2016 Crosstrek I had ordered from Thelen in Bay City and love it so far! to be continued..............

PE

Peter Antoncic

Terrible customer service that started from the moment we stepped onto the lot through until well after we (shockingly) purchased the vehicle. Low stock on the lot and the fact that we had to find a salesman should have been enough clues to make us take our business elsewhere. We got connected with Eddie Armstrong, Jr, and our problems included (I hope I dont miss any because they are numerous): - taking a car for a test drive and the features not working - "Ive never seen that before" isnt a good sign -excessively trying to talk us into features/extras that we stated we absolutely did not want -zero communication as to when the car we wanted would be delivered - I believe we called well after the promised date to find out where the car was -incorrect communication regarding the registration, insurance, etc, ie, being called by Eddie looking for information that we emailed to him days earlier. -when we signed the paperwork, the price was over $500 too high; a mistake that WE caught, otherwise no one would have noticed - "someone else made that calculation error" -when explaining the new features, we were made to feel stupid for not wanting our phones synced to the car.. to the point where I wanted to stand up and walk out, leaving the deposit money and taking our business elsewhere. This was probably the worst of the issues, until the next one... -we ordered an accessory which we were told would "be here tomorrow, will take 30 minutes to install and is included in the price of the vehicle" -- again, NO communication as we had to call to find out when it would arrive.... then we were told it would cost $100 dollars and it would take three hours! Thankfully the woman at the Service Department was fantastic and got it settled (I believe her name is Jennifer and she should be commended for a job well done.) -still weeks later, we are getting calls about a mix-up on the registration paperwork. So overall, horrible. Dunning Subaru got our money, so ultimately the joke is on us. But I would never recommend anyone go here to purchase a vehicle. Its unfortunate that the sales department has tarnished this dealership. We will probably return for service, and hopefully Jennifer is running the department because shes one of the few people who seem to know what theyre doing and actually care about the customers.

KE

Kenneth Swift

I bought a Subaru WRX in the spring of 2014, just happening to get there after someone had cancelled their order on the new 2015 model (which was in very high demand right then). The salesman (Eddie Armstrong Jr.) was very nice to me, something Ive had a problem with in the past since I look very young, as many sales folks will think I dont have the money to buy a car due to my age. Instead Mr. Armstrong was very helpful in confirming the differences between the WRX and STI models, and letting me look at the car, but I had a condition that really tested this folks. I wanted to actually drive the car before I bought it. Now you need to understand that people were driving several hundred miles to find one of these cars, and there was at least one other person trying to buy this car WHILE I WAS AT THE DEALERSHIP. He actually drove up as I was signing the final papers. But back to the test drive. My back is really messed up. Thats sort of an understatement, so Ill just say that being comfortable when I drive is a big deal. Because its not just my back, and by the time I bought the Subaru, Id already looked at maybe a dozen cars trying to find one that would be good in the snow and also not be a nightmare to drive. So I told them I wanted to test drive the car, and Mr. Armstrong took that to the Manager (sorry, cant remember his name), and he came back a few shades lighter from whatever the conversation was (sorry for that, Eddie). But I got my test drive, and the car was what I wanted. So theyve been pretty good so far there at Dunning Subaru. Ive looked at a few other cars, taken a Legacy out (it was a 3.6R and was like a big version of my WRX - except no stick... I cant get behind that just yet). Theyve done one service so far, and everything went just fine. No issues and nothing to talk about. Theres a place to eat right within walking distance (just next door) - nothing fancy, but you really dont need it. For the other people whove had problems, I dont know what to say. Maybe it was just the sales person. Eddie Armstrong did right by me and Im pretty sure he got yelled at by his boss for getting me that test drive. Not everyone does things like that. KS